TN: Went to Vinitaly in Verona this weekend. Great fun, though not the best place to calmly taste wines. Simply too many producers to choose from. Mostly Italian of course. I was anxious to taste some Slovenians, but I couldn't even find them.
I stuck to my friends. So of course I called up the legendary Alberto Marsetti (in my book), a small Valtellina producer whom I discovered when, back in 2001, I was heading towards Valtellina and I called up the even more legendary (I had just heard a thing or two) Arturo Pelizzati Perego, whose name was sold for inheritance division problems (he had to restart making wine using the weird AR.PE.PE. moniker because his great grandfather's name was sold to the big Valtellina Nini Negri firm in the 80's) and I believe I talked to the AR.PE.PE. genius himself (who died a few years ago) who told me they were closed. I asked him if there was another small producer he recommended and he told me about Alberto Marsetti. All I can say is that Alberto, on my first visit there, dusted off a 1990 Grumello (there was an inch of black fuzz on it) and served it to me and my friends. Great guy.
And whenever I need to get into Vinitaly without paying the hefty 35 Euro fare I call him up.
So back to Vinitaly. Nothing like starting your morning at Vinitaly with a hearty cup of Sforzato (for those who don't know Sforzato means "forced" and is a high-alcohol wine made only in Valtellina by picking Nebbiolo grapes, letting them dry on mats "Amarone style" and then fermenting the grapes thereby making a high altitude "Amarone" from Nebbiolo. It is often a great wine, thank goodness Robert Parker hasn't discovered it.)

Alberto was sharing his booth with the AR.PE.PE firm meaning Isabella, Arturo's excellent daughter. She is doing a great job recovering from her father's recent death and continuing his amazing and un-commercial tradition. (He would usually release his wines 10 years after the harvest). AR.PE.PE. was a rare genius whose legacy will soon be appreciated. The great thing is that his wines are UTTERLY ANTI-PARKER, and therefore commercially difficult to deal with. But believe me they are amongst the most special wines I've had the privilage of tasting.
So when I got to Vinitaly I basically sat down at the AR.PE.PE.-Marsetti booth and did not move.
The AR.PE.PE. riservas were magical.
To my initial chagrin they had decided, for the great 1997 vintage, to combine the Sassella Vigna Regina and the Grumello Buonconsiglio to make a single wine called Pettirosso. Part of what made me sad was that the Pettirosso label was quite normal in a bordeaux bottle while the Vigna Regina has always been in a bourgogne bottle with a very weird label which I love (though it is very uncommercial).
The wine was great, the color was absolutely anti-parker. We're talking one of the lightest colored wines around, with a fat orange rim. Your mind screams, this wine is light and oxidized. In fact, no oxidation and in the mouth there is an amazing full bodied texture that is unique. Everything about this wine is unique. The nose was surprisingly shy (relatively) for such a masterful nebbiolo but as I sat there admiring the bouquet in silence it kept evolving like very few wines.
I sat there admiring this wine for quite a while thinking that its amazingly delicate nebbiolo qualities could easily be overlooked if tasted in a noisy pressured atmosphere. This is a wine that needs your full attention.

Afterwards I tasted the 1996 (these wines have just been released and are available at the winery in Sondrio for an extremely fair price) Sassella Riserva Rocce Rosse. The label is very unique and quite undescribeable. Its mostly black with red lettering in a weird gothic script, but its not really traditional looking.
The nose on this wine was a lot more powerful for some reason. The color was also extremely weird and deceptive with an incredible nebbiolo lightness and orangeness. The nose began with a good barnyard element which disappeared into a flowery licorice. Great nose and great complex mouth.
I spent most of of my Vinitaly experience with these two wines on friday.

The other producer I visited is a quality minded entity from the Oltrepo' Pavese area in Lombardy called Doria di Montalto. Their chestnut barrel aged Barbera is great.

Agostino Berti wrote: 1996 Sassella Riserva Rocce Rosse. The color was also extremely weird and deceptive with an incredible nebbiolo lightness and orangeness. The nose began with a good barnyard element which disappeared into a flowery licorice.

Yes, this wine confused me as well, the pungent brett almost made me gag upon opening, but air did wonders..

Nice read, Agostino. So was the sforzato from Perego? Marsetti? I'm assuming it was the current release (2001?). The few that I've had have been wonderful wines and gives a bit different slant on nebbiolo.

According to his daughter Perego thought his Riservas better represented the Valtellina terroir. So he didn't make a Sforzato. He did in the old days when his family owned tons of vineyards before the succession fiasco.
Marsetti makes the Sforzato and its very good. He barriques it a bit for commercial purposes. He's a small producer who cares a lot about his wines without being "ratings" ambitious.

Though you didn't ask: Ageeing potential for Sforzato varies. I had a 1989 Tona (I think he's defunct) that was fantastic. A 1990 Sertoli Salis tasted like weird port.
Marsetti's 1988 Grumello, with no label because they didn't sell their own wine then, beat a 1990 Franceso Rinaldi Barolo in a blind taste test. Apparently that was a freak year in Valtellina with super high sugars.
I'd like to know what experiences other people have had with old Sforzato....

Interesting comparison between the '88 Marsetti and the '90 Rinaldi. I dont often see climate/growing season information about Valtellina. I can't say I've had experience with very aged sforzato. The last one we had here was a '99 Sertoli Salis and that was opened far too early in my opinion. It did have a touch more barrique than others tasted but it seemed like it would age well.

Thanks for the note. I remember having several bottles of a Grumello riserva 1990 from Arturo Pelizzatti-Perego (AR.PE.PE) some years ago. I really liked the wine a lot. Unfortunately I am empty. The last note is from 2001:

This is a traditional winemaker that you will probably never see in the GR. He is aiming at light and elegant wines and this is actually aged in chestnut-casks. The wine has a brick-red colour. The nose a bit closed at first. After some airing it showed loads of dried roses, old wood and leather. In the mouth it is a surprisingly light wine wine nice mineral hints typical of this grape. Good acidity and medium tannins. Special and great.

I have not had much luck with older sforzato, finding oxydation can be a problem. But I did have a surprisingly backward old "regular" Valtellina a couple of months ago:

Valtellina Superiore Inferno DOC Riserva della Casa 1964, Enologica ValtellineseDeep brick-red colour. Fine nose. Much dark fruits, cherries, anise, roses and that tobacco/smokyness I find so typical of Valtellinese wines. Powerful and concentrated in the mouth. Surprisingly young. I never have had luck with older Valtellinese wines, but this is still mostly in it's primary fruity-stage. Acidic mouthfeel. Concentrated fruit. Fruit has dark berries, tobacco, smoke. Quite tannic back. Very fine. Dare I say that it needs more time?

I've read and enjoyed your tasting notes many times in my TN searches.
It was nice to find someone else who appreciates Ar.Pe.Pe.'s special wines.
Another great nebbiolo that you seem to have caught on to is Antichi Vigneti di Cantalupo. I've stocked up on their 1997 Collis Breclemae. This wine beat a whole host of expensive Barolos in a blind tasting (although top honors actually went to a Rainoldi 1997 Inferno Valtellina!)
To be fair the Barolos all tasted very tannic and might be great in another ten years, but who has that kind of patience or time...

By the way Arnt, regarding your tasting note on the Grumello Arturo Pelizzati Perego, that may have been a wine made by the Nino Negri firm. They bought the name when he was forced to sell it after his father's death. Such a weird situation. I also bought an Arturo Pelizzati Perego wine in the beginning thinking it was made by him.
REMEMBER EVERYONE: look for Ar.Pe.Pe. not Arturo Pelizzati Perego!!

Agostino Berti wrote:By the way Arnt, regarding your tasting note on the Grumello Arturo Pelizzati Perego, that may have been a wine made by the Nino Negri firm. They bought the name when he was forced to sell it after his father's death. Such a weird situation. I also bought an Arturo Pelizzati Perego wine in the beginning thinking it was made by him. REMEMBER EVERYONE: look for Ar.Pe.Pe. not Arturo Pelizzati Perego!!

Actually the label had both names. Both AR.PE.PE and Arturo Pelizzatti Perego. And I am pretty sure we are talking about the same producer. I find the wine on their homepage. It is named buon consiglio riserva:

Agostino Berti wrote:I've read and enjoyed your tasting notes many times in my TN searches.It was nice to find someone else who appreciates Ar.Pe.Pe.'s special wines. Another great nebbiolo that you seem to have caught on to is Antichi Vigneti di Cantalupo. I've stocked up on their 1997 Collis Breclemae. This wine beat a whole host of expensive Barolos in a blind tasting (although top honors actually went to a Rainoldi 1997 Inferno Valtellina!)To be fair the Barolos all tasted very tannic and might be great in another ten years, but who has that kind of patience or time...

Thanks,Agostino

Thanks a lot for reading. It is alsway nice to hear that someone enjoys it. Well I am a lover of nebbiolo. I love Barolo/Barbaresco but there are other areas that deserves to be better known.

I am right now sipping to Dessilani's Fara Caramino 2001. It is nice, a good vintage for the wine. Typical, with much tobacco and roses, cherries and some oak. It is a softer style of nebbiolo but nice and good for the price. Cantalupo's wines are more serious. I like them a lot. Although they are not perhaps as "transparent" as wines from Gattinara, which gives more typical nebbiolo-aromas. As we move towards the summer don't forget Cantalupo's nebbiolo rose "il mimo".

Funny you should mention the Dessilani wines. I went there a month back and brought home a few. I found the top bottlings, the Caramino 2001 (Fara DOC, I believe 100% Nebbiolo), Lochera 2000 (also Fara) and the Sizzano (Sizzano DOC, mostly Nebbiolo with a good dash of Bonarda and Vespolina) to be very good wines, very well made. I particularly remember the Caramino and Lochera the next day had opened up beautifully with no signs of oxidation. Very high quality Nebbiolo wines.

So I went back and bought six bottle cases of each kind. They were all 10-12 Euros a bottle (these are their top crus made from very low yields by reknown Langhe wine consultant Giuseppe Caviola). Try to find that in over-hyped Barolo land!
I think these wines will age effortlessly and become quite good.
I also like the fact that one of Italy's unification founders, the shrewd Camillo Benso Cavour back in the 1800's tasted Sizzano and enthusiastically compared it to Burgundy.

These small DOC's are a rare and disppearing treat with a noble past.

It is true though that the quality in northern Piedmont has not kept up with the times. But if you search for the good producers I think the terroir is there for potentially great wines, as history attests, and Antichi Vigneti di Cantalupo has proven.

I also went to visit the Antonio Vallana winery (who made legendary, prize winning, long lived Nebbiolo wines in the 50's and 60's). His grandson Francis just finished enology school and I think will soon make good wines, although they only have 5 hectares of vineyards left. In the meantime his mom, WHO DOESN'T DRINK WINE AT ALL, has been making the wine and predictably it is bad, at least I think so. Two bottles of Gattinara 1997 I bought was oxidized and funky as well as bottles tasted previously.
The thing is she has thousands of her dad's wines from the 50's and 60's in her cellar unlabelled with boxes full of his original grand, beautiful labels ready to be pasted on. Its the third time I've gone there trying to coax a bottle or two from her but to no avail. This time when I asked her if I could acquire a couple of bottles (we were in the tasting room which is filled with a couple hundred bottles of Antonio Vallana's greatest masterpieces in mint condition with brand new labels, covered in plastic stacked on their sides in this freezing cold room, you know they are in perfect condition), when I asked her she just shut down and changed the subject in a weird way...so I guess I'll try again next year. It was later on that she told me she has thousands more deeper down in the the cellars..yargh!! What a shame! Masterpieces slowly dying away.......

Fabulous posting, Agostino! I will need to discover these wines as it is a region I have very little experience with. I love finding traditional producers - but - you are right - it is sad, they are fading away. Enjoyed your posting very much!

I was at a tasting with Enzio Lucca about a year ago. Here are the old notes I found:

Tasting was held in Oslo the 30th March 2005 and was hosted by Enzio Lucca of Dessilani. Azienda vitivinicola Luigi Dessilani e figlio is an old firm based in Fara Novarese. Much of the fame was built up by Luigi Dessilani during the 20th century. In the 70's Enzio Lucca, married to one of the Dessilani's, entered as a wine-maker.The Fara Caramino has always been Dessilani's top wine and the one taking most of the fame. The wine is from a single-vinyard, named Caramino, that comes from a morenic area in the municipality of Briona. But Dessilani makes other wines of the Novara-Vercelli. There are other selections of Fara, such as the single-vineyard-wines Lochera and Cornaggina and there are other selections such as Gattinara and Ghemme from both own vineyards and bought grapes.The vineyards of the Novara are some of the oldest in Piedmont, being the chosen spot for grape-growing found by the romans. The main-grape here is the spanna, which is a sub-variety of the nebbiolo-grape found in the Novara-Vercelli. In the Langhe the sub-varieties are different; the lampia, michet and the nebbiolo rose. The somewhat colder climate also makes the wines from the Novara-Vercelli a bit more elegant and IMO a bit more perfumed; floral. The wines from Langhe show more fat says Enzio Lucca.Also the spanna here is often blended with other grapes; mostly the vespolina. Most people look at this grape as a blending-component adding more obvious fruit and colour. But Enzio Lucca has high hopes for the grapes which he says can make very fine wine as a varietal. Dessilani will soon release mono-varietals of this grape, which he says can take a long cellar-time. The only mono-varietal vespolina I have tasted earlier is from Cantalupo, whose Villa Horta is a very fruity wine. On to the tasting we started with a spumante and a still white wine.

Collefino spumante brut NVThis is a spumante made 100% from the local grape greco novarese which is the same grape as the one found under the name Erbaluce a little further west in the Canavese. According to Enzio Lucca new information says that the DNA is equal to the Greco di Tufo, which was news to me. It is said that the DNA is equal, even if the grapes have been grown seperately for 2000 years.The Collefino spumante have been made from grapes grown in the Fara-zone, in the municipalities of Fara and Briona. They have macerated for 10 days at temperature controlled to 20 degrees Celsius. Alcohol is 11,5%. The colour is lightly green with medium large bubbles. The nose is fruity with hints of pear and lightly green notes and a touch of yeasts. Simple and refreshing in the mouth. Lightly sparkling, perhaps more frizzante. Good length. Nice and simple.

Collefino bianco 2003, Colline Novaresi DOCNext up is a dry still version of the same wine and using the same grapes as the previous wine. This wine have spent a short period of time in barriques. 12,5% alcohol.Straw colour. Spicy nose, broader, more "fatness" and hints of butter. Ripe style and full-bodied with a little fatness in the entrance. But giving way to a fine spicy fruit with hints of green leaves and oak. Medium acids and length. No doubt from a ripe vintage. A good wine, the spicyness is interesting, but I would like to see it a little brighter and with finer acids.

Barbera 2002, Piemonte DOCThe barbera is aged in barriques and large barrels. 12,5% alcohol. The colour is deep red. The nose is fruity and has hints of red fruits, cherries and a touch floral high notes. Good body. Simple. Fruity and a touch mineral. Light oak. Good acids and length. A nice, medium concentrated and fruity barbera.

Nebbiolo 2001, Colline Novaresi DOCDeep red colour, but lighter than the barbera and a little bricking. More floral notes in the nose with hints of cherries. Good body. Fruity style for nebbiolo. Cherries and some fine floral notes that makes the wine elegant, but again simple. Good acids and some tannins in the back. Very nicely priced.

Nebbiolo 2000, Colline Novaresi DOCDeep pink and tight colour. Intence cherries in the nose. Slightly hints of earth. Powerful and concentrated in the mouth. But more one-dimensional and fruity with not so fine acids and elegance as the 2001. But dry and structured finish. Try to give it a little cellar-time.

Fara Caramino 2001Then we started drinking the Caramino. The wine is, as I have said, from a single-vineyard. The blend is 80/20 nebbiolo/vespolina. The aging takes place in barriques and in slavonian barrels. The 2001 has a deep red colour with a slight bricking. The nose is more floral and show more depth. Hints of cherries and red fruits. Some oak. Good body. Concentrated. Good acids and nicely balanced. Young and with some tannins in the back. A good wine, needing a little more time to integrate the oak at this stage.

Fara Caramino 2000Deep red colour, a little lighter than the 2001. Less intencity in the nose. Floral, but with more wood and earth than the fruity 2001. Good body, but seems less concentrated than the 2001. Floral and earthy fruit. Decent acids and some tannins in the back. The oak better integrated, but my least favourite of the Caraminos.

Fara Lochera 2000Unfortunately corked. Also the back-up bottle was corked. For those that want the statistics this wine is made from a blend of 70/30 nebbiolo/vespolina and is also a single-vineyard from a morenic area in Fara Novarese. The vinification is similar to the Caramino and the wine is often lighter and a little less structured than the Caramino.

Gattinara 1999The vinification of this wine is similar to the Caramino, but the grapes are nebbiolo with a small percentage of bonarda novarese in the blend. Brick-red colour. Lighter than the others. More floral nose and typical hints for the nebbiolo with tar, cherries and anise. Powerful and the most tannic wine of the day. A more transparent and floral style. Good acids. One of my favourites.

Ghemme 1999Deep red colour. Intence and fruity nose with a hint of coffee. Powerful and tannic in the mouth. But quite fruity. A little less concentration. Acidic wine. Good.

Fara Caramino 1999Deep red colour, lightly bricking. More closed nose, but with a floral intencity. Cool style. Powerful and concentrated in the mouth. Some anise and tar in the fruit. Great depth. Good acids and lighter tannic structure than the Gattinara and the Ghemme. Elegant. Young. My favourite of the day.

Fara Caramino 1998Brick-red colour. Very cool-fruited and closed nose. Hints of tobacco and camphor. Good body and concentrated in the mouth. Very closed and giving little right now. Some anise, tobacco and some floral notes. Fine acids, medium tannic. This needs time, but will be very good. Perhaps even better than the 99.

Fara Caramino 1997Deep brick-red colour. Tight. Sweeter nose. Ripe fruits and even caramel. Darker fruit-notes. Powerful in the mouth, with a more dark-berried fruit. But lower acids and a bit hollow. Dry and tannic end. Ripe vintage and not my favourite.

Fara Caramino 1990Unfortunately also nasty cork in this bottle.

Moscato d'Asti NVA non-vintage Moscato d'Asti with a green colour and large bubbles. Typical fruity and very spicy moscato-nose. Fine nose. Fruity and slightly drier tahn the norm in the mouth. Medium acids that could have been fresher. Decent length. A good and decent moscato d'Asti, but there are better versions around.

Laio 2000Passito from Greco novarese-grapes grown in the towns of Fara Novarese and Briona. Aged in oak for at least 12 months. Golden/brown colour. Nose is intence and shows burnt sugar, floral notes, apricot. Full-bodied in the mouth. Not as sweet as expected. A little more woody and caramel-notes and a long citrusy finish. Medium acids. A bit rustic, vin santo-like.

To sum up the tasting I think the wines of Dessilani are very interesting, especially also because of their pricing, which is very low in the world of fine nebbiolo today. The Caramino from a good vintage is a great wine at a low price. The wines from Novara show more vintage-variations than wines from the Langhe. I also find generally that the nebbiolos from Novara seems to integrate better with oaking than in the Langhe. Why? Perhaps it is due to the blending with vespolina and other grapes? Perhaps it is the sub-variety of nebbiolo used here or perhaps totally other factors, I don't know.

I also went to visit the Antonio Vallana winery (who made legendary, prize winning, long lived Nebbiolo wines in the 50's and 60's). His grandson Francis just finished enology school and I think will soon make good wines, although they only have 5 hectares of vineyards left. In the meantime his mom, WHO DOESN'T DRINK WINE AT ALL, has been making the wine and predictably it is bad, at least I think so. Two bottles of Gattinara 1997 I bought was oxidized and funky as well as bottles tasted previously.The thing is she has thousands of her dad's wines from the 50's and 60's in her cellar unlabelled with boxes full of his original grand, beautiful labels ready to be pasted on. Its the third time I've gone there trying to coax a bottle or two from her but to no avail. This time when I asked her if I could acquire a couple of bottles (we were in the tasting room which is filled with a couple hundred bottles of Antonio Vallana's greatest masterpieces in mint condition with brand new labels, covered in plastic stacked on their sides in this freezing cold room, you know they are in perfect condition), when I asked her she just shut down and changed the subject in a weird way...so I guess I'll try again next year. It was later on that she told me she has thousands more deeper down in the the cellars..yargh!! What a shame! Masterpieces slowly dying away.......

Thanks for the story . I am lucky enough to have a few of these older bottles in my cellar and they do hold up greatly. I tasted a couple right before christmas and here are the notes I wrote:

Spanna Campii Raudii 1958, Antinio VallanaAired in a Barolo-decanter for 4 hours. Showing a deep red colour, still looks much younger than it's age. The nose is very fine indeed, showing a lot of tobacco and dried roses. Fine high notes. Complex, some leather. Full-bodied in the mouth, almost some fatness in the entrance from the fruit-concentration. Here it also shows a lot of tobacco, perhaps a little more like a Valtellina, but with fine hints of roses and quite elegant. Medium acids (perhaps a hot year?) and some tannins in the back. Fully mature and on top now. Will last. Great wine. Vineyard from the area of Gattinara.

Spanna Vecchia Riserva Castello di Montalbano 19xx, Antonio VallanaThis came in a mixed stash with several 68-vintages of the same wine. So I always thought it was a 68, the neck label with the vintage was missing. But then I noticed the main label was different from the 68 and also the 64. The type of bottle was also different and looks older. The fill was also much lower on this one. So I did not know what to expect. My humble guess, is that this is from the 50's.Well my low expectations where to be totally blown away. The colour was brick red. Lightly browning rim. The nose just fantastic. The most floral nebbiolo I ever have smelled. Very intence. Roses, cherries, some leather and tobacco. Very high notey. Not that much tar. Full-bodied in the mouth and again that slightly fatness in the fruit, as if it were a very young wine. Huge concentration, good acids and medium tannic for this grape. Long finish. Fantastic wine. Perhaps the best wine I tasted in 2005. Vineyard within the area of Boca.[/quote]

Agostino Berti wrote:I also went to visit the Antonio Vallana winery (who made legendary, prize winning, long lived Nebbiolo wines in the 50's and 60's). His grandson Francis just finished enology school and I think will soon make good wines, although they only have 5 hectares of vineyards left. In the meantime his mom, WHO DOESN'T DRINK WINE AT ALL, has been making the wine and predictably it is bad, at least I think so...It was later on that she told me she has thousands more deeper down in the the cellars..yargh!! What a shame! Masterpieces slowly dying away.......

Interesting story, I agree some recent vintages of Vallana have been uninspiring, while older ones were very intriguing, interesting to know the reason.

But, why was she reluctant to discuss selling you the older wines? Are they holding onto them for a special auction/personal consumption? Do you think the majority should be drunk sooner rather than later, or will they continue to last decades?

I didn't ask her what she planned to do with them. From my perspective she seemed a bit emotional about them, I think they are sort of priceless items that she has a hard time selling and putting a price on, but that's just a guess. They mentioned selling some and I responded, wouldn't it be better to sell a few bottles to individual wine aficionados like myself, but I didn't get an answer. There were tons of them in that tasting room with such beautiful labels...the coolest labels I've ever seen.

Agostino wrote:I also went to visit the Antonio Vallana winery (who made legendary, prize winning, long lived Nebbiolo wines in the 50's and 60's).

You know how you have a bottle of wine that you just can't wait to open but want to open it at the right time? That is how I've been with my one lone bottle of 1958 Vallana Spanna del Piemonte. Next Friday is finally the night and I'm pretty pumped.

Il Mimo is a good Rose' . But Arnt, when you said "some people consider it the best Rose' in the world", who was that? I don't know if its that good!!?
I thought the Lagrein Rose by Colterenzio was deliciously drinkable, as a Rose' should be.
The Cerasuolos from Abruzzo are also very good.

Agostino Berti wrote: I was anxious to taste some Slovenians, but I couldn't even find them.

It figures. The majority isn't able to find the whole state on a map

To bad you didn't invest your money to visit the vini secondo natura fair (organized by the gruppo vini veri). An excellent selection of producers, and some of the best Slovenians were there too (including those living on the italian side of the border). By my opinion, the vitovska 2002 produced by Vodopivec (Carso, Italy) was the wine of the event. Pure rock and roll